Bran Hambric is a foundling, left in a bank vault and taken in by Sewey and Mabel Wilomas, who live in the town of Dunce. In an effort to preserve the decency of the community, the town has banned even the mere mention of magic. During a harrowing accident involving a truck at the Duncelander Fair, Bran discovers that he is a mage. He also has to face the difficult truth that his mother was a mage as well as a criminal, in league with an underground group with a rather gruesome plan to overthrow the Mages Council. Bran discovers that people are trying to find him so that they can use him to help finish the job she started. This book is a clear reflection of the influence of the "Harry Potter" books on a new generation of writers. Sadly, the author's attempts at creative language and original ideas come across as silly. Nation creates a contemporary world that is a tool for social satire, but that feels flat and uninteresting. Beyond quirks of dialogue, he gives no real sense of who the characters really are, so it is difficult to have any empathy when they are injured or appear to have died.
Your enemies will do anything to stop you. Your best friend might be dead. And your only hope is your father...a man you've never met-until now.
Who would you trust?
Would you even trust yourself?
Bran Hambric believes that the Farfield Curse is over with. But when he discovers a safe-deposit box in his dead mother's name-in the very bank vault where he was discovered as a boy-Bran's past comes rushing back. Now he's on a frightening path that puts everyone he cares about in danger.
When Bran's best friend, Astara, is kidnapped, Bran will do whatever it takes to save her and prevent the evil mage on his trail from claiming the power of the curse for herself. But will the magic destroy him the way it destroyed his mother?
